Thomas Fire's lost horse Tommy finds a new home in Moorpark

Alicia Doyle, Special to Ventura County Star
Published 10:30 a.m. PT April 29, 2018

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Some animals like Tommy the horse remain unclaimed in the wake of the Thomas Fire. On Friday Tommy was adopted and went to his new home.

Tommy the horse is pictured (left to right ) with his new owner Anne Scioscia, equine specialist Christie Tracy, humane officer Kendra Winwood and veterinary assistant Christina Malleck on Friday after he was adopted at the Humane Society of Ventura County in Ojai.(Photo: PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF VENTURA)

Covered in soot and caked with mud, the white horse had been wandering around for days in the aftermath of the Thomas Fire — the largest fire in modern California history – until he was brought to the Humane Society of Ventura County in Ojai on Dec. 13.

The staff, which lovingly named him Tommy, determined he was about 25 years old and a mix between Percheron and Arabian.

“When he came in he was very down wouldn’t lift his head. You could tell he was sad,” recalled Christie Tracy, an equine specialist at the Humane Society of Ventura County.

“We thought he was burnt because it was during the fires and he was so caked in mud,” Tracy said. “He was actually just muddy and his hoofs were about two years overgrown. He was just not cared for for a really long time.”

That all changed on Friday, when Tommy found a loving home. His adopter is Anne Scioscia, wife of Mike Scioscia, a former Los Angeles Dodgers catcher and the current manager of the Los Angeles Angels.

“I heard about him from The Star,” Anne Scioscia said in reference to a newspaper article about Tommy’s plight. “Here he was on the front page so I had to read about the horse.”

A resident of Westlake Village who was born in Santa Ana, “winds are our nemesis,” she said. “Fires touch all of us and it was just by the grace of God that the fire didn’t come to me. The Santa Ana winds were hurricane-grade at some point during the Thomas Fire. We live within the range, and by the grace of God it didn’t take our house.”

“He was in pretty rough shape when I saw him.”

Ann Scioscia

After the Thomas Fire hit on Dec. 4, and after reading about Tommy in the newspaper, “I just needed to know he was OK,” Anne Scioscia continued.

About three weeks after Tommy’s arrival at the shelter, she went to pay him a visit.

“He was in pretty rough shape when I saw him,” she remembered.

Since then, Tommy has been nursed back to health at the shelter. He became available for adoption about three weeks ago, said Greg Cooper, director of community outreach at the Humane Society.

“He’s just been pampered,” said Cooper, adding that a ferrier and veterinarian checked him regularly.

“He’s got new sand on the outside with new dirt underneath with rubber mats under his feeder. And we’re right next to Happy Camp Regional Park so she can take him for a walk out in the park.”

Nance Tapley-Peck, Moorpark owner

Today, “he doesn’t look like the same horse, so the before and after is amazing,” Cooper said. “We gave him a bath yesterday and he just glows. It’s really beautiful to see his physical condition.”

Cooper added that he’s “tickled pink” that Tommy is going to such a great home.

“On the other hand, I’m sad because he’s become such a fixture and such a representation of the devastation the Thomas fire was. To see this silver lining come out of that just moved all of us.”

Tommy will be living at Peck Farm in Moorpark, where he’ll have a 24-by-24-foot pipe corral on about 10 acres surrounded by pepper trees, said Nance Tapley-Peck, the owner.

“So he’s got his own house and his own feed,” Tapley-Peck said. “He’s got new sand on the outside with new dirt underneath with rubber mats under his feeder. And we’re right next to Happy Camp Regional Park so she can take him for a walk out in the park.”

On Friday, Tommy’s tail was braided for the trip to his new home, and his new mom brought him apples and carrots to enjoy before the ride.

“He’s kinda old and requires medication for the rest of his life, but I’m not going to give up on him now — we’re in it to win it,” Anne Scioscia said. “His new home will be at Peck Farm and it’s located on Happy Camp Road — it doesn’t get any better than that.”

”Tommy is a character, and everybody at the Humane Society of Ventura County will miss him, said Kendra Winwood, a humane officer at the shelter.

“But we’re all so happy,” she said.

“Stuff like this reminds us why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Winwood added. “After all the devastation of the fire, Tommy going home is a success. We may never know who his previous owner was, but him going home is a win.”